Usagi's Dilemma
by A Writer of Fact and Fiction
Summary: <html><head></head>This story takes place the Monday following 'Good Intentions'. It begins as just another normal school day in the lives of Tsukino Usagi and her friends. But is it?</html>
1. Chapter 1

Usagi's Dilemma

. . . . .

This story takes place the Monday following 'Good Intentions'. It begins as just another normal school day for Tsukino Usagi and her friends. Or is it?

. . . . .

Chapter 1:

_"Usagi-chan!_ Are you awake?"

The sixteen-year-old girl's sleep-filled eyes blinked open to the sound of insistent thumping against her closed bedroom door. "It's time to get up!"

The blonde raised her head from the pillow and frowned, taking a moment to stretch beneath her bunny-patterned sheets before answering her mother with a deep yawn. "Ok, Mama. I'm awake now."

"You don't want to be late for school again, do you?"

"No Mama. I won't be late this time" Usagi promised. "I'll be down in ten minutes." After a quick shower she dressed and shuffled downstairs to the breakfast table, plopping into her chair with an unhappy scowl. "I _hate_ Mondays!"

"You wouldn't be feeling nearly so tired if you hadn't stayed out late last night with Mamoru, dear" her mother reminded her.

"But I _had_ to, Mama! Mamo-chan is catching the early train to Nagaoka today. He's being sent there by his university on a stupid field trip" Usagi groaned. "Which means I won't see him again until next Saturday!"

"Try to cope as best you can" Tsukino Ikuko chuckled. "Did you finish your weekend homework like you promised your father and me you would?"

"Hai. Well... most of it" her daughter mumbled before nibbling on her toast. "At least I had fun last weekend. A lot more fun than I'll have today, trapped in that boring school, listening to boring old Haruna bore everyone to death all day long. It's worse than being in jail!" She eyed the empty seat across from her. "Where's Shingo?"

"He already left for school, Usagi-chan. Your father has gone to work too. Hurry up now, and don't forget your jacket. It's chilly this morning."

After wolfing down her breakfast, Usagi sighed despairingly at the cruelness of it all, picked up her book bag and shuffled outside, shivering in Tokyo's crisp autumn air. _"Stupid school!"_ Trudging down the sidewalk toward Juuban High, it wasn't long before a familiar voice called out a greeting and Kino Makoto trotted up behind her in a green windbreaker.

"Konnichiwa, Usagi-chan. Nice day."

"Hi Mako-chan. And it's _not_ a nice day! It's a school day which makes it horrible! I can't wait to finally graduate from that miserable dump!"

"You mean the Juuban Torture Chamber and House of Perpetual Detentions?" Makoto laughed. "Tell me about it!" The girls continued on, spying Ami walking by herself as they neared their school's front gate.

"That's odd" Usagi murmured. "Ami-chan, wait up!"

The blue-haired teen turned at the gate and smiled at the approaching pair. "Ohayou Usagi-chan. Good morning, Mako-chan."

"You're walking to school alone?" the odango-haired blonde pondered.

"I usually do" Ami replied. "Uh... why do you ask?"

"Where's Ryo? Is he sick?"

"Ryo?" Ami puzzled. _"Urawa_ Ryo?" A faint blush appeared on her pretty face at the mere mention of the boy's name. "I can only assume he's heading to his morning classes just as we are, Usagi-chan" she said as they strolled onto the school grounds together. "But at his school in Osaka."

_"Osaka?"_ Usagi halted in her tracks so abruptly that Makoto bumped into her. "Oh, _now_ I get it! Ha Ha! Very funny, Ami-chan! It isn't nice to tease me when I'm still half asleep." She peered curiously at her close friend. "Unless... did you and him have a fight or something last night?"

"A fight? _With Ryo?"_ Ami caught Makoto's eye and the tall brunette silently shrugged her shoulders, appearing as confused as the blue-haired teen was rapidly becoming. "Gomen, Usage-chan. I have absolutely no idea what you're referring to" the studious girl replied. "I haven't talked to him in nearly a month."

_"Sure_ you haven't!" Usagi scoffed. "Go ahead, keep right on teasing me if it makes you happy. Next thing I know, Mako-chan will be telling me that she hasn't seen Yuji in a month either. I may _look_ like I'm sleepwalking, but I'm not _that_ tired!"

"Yuji?" Makoto asked in surprise. "Yuji who?"

"Stop it with the dumb jokes, Mako-chan! Wait, I know! I bet evil Rei put you both up to this, didn't she? Well stop it! You're both starting to creep me out!"

"I wasn't joking" the taller girl said. "Who's this Yuji you just mentioned?"

"He's _only_ your fian-" The shrill clang of a ringing bell put an abrupt end to the girls' conversation and they hurried inside to their home room. Usagi dropped her book bag beside her seat near the back of the class, watching with growing concern as Ami took her usual place at the front of the crowded classroom. The seat beside the blue-haired girl, usually occupied by Ami's shy young fiancee, was already taken by another student. "Now_ that's_ really weird!" she muttered.

Makoto eased into the chair between the blonde's left and a window. "What's weird?"

Usagi pointed, "Ryo isn't sitting in his usual spot beside Ami. Something really strange is going on."

The brunette chuckled, "Are you sure you're feeling well, Usagi-chan? Urawa Ryo hasn't attended this school in nearly two years. Not since he and his family moved away."

The blonde's eyes grew wide._ "Nani?_ Hang on just a second! Let me see your left hand, Mako-chan. _Then_ I'll know for real if you're pulling my leg or not."

"Uh... sure. Whatever floats your boat."

Makoto waved her fingers in front of the blonde and Usagi noticed at once that the brunette's small diamond engagement ring was absent. She shook her head in disbelief, then flopped behind her desk as Sakurada Haruna strode into the room and closed the door behind her. "I must be dreaming! Hai, that's it! Either that, or this is the best practical joke ever!" She raised her voice and exclaimed, "Well,_ I_ don't like it! _I don't like it at all!"_

Her sensei stared down the column of seats at the noisy outburst. "We're all well aware just how much you despise school, Usagi-chan" Haruna sighed. "You'll just have to deal with it until you graduate. Which, considering the mark you achieved on your last exam, could take quite some time." She heard Makoto snickering in the background and added, "The same applies to you, Makoto-chan. I expect much better from the pair of you from this point on. Understood?"

The brunette's grin faded. "Hai, Haruna-sensei."

The classroom door suddenly burst open and an apologetic Aino Minako scurried into the room. "Gomen, Sensei!" she blurted breathlessly. "Silly me, running late again!"

"What was it this time, Minako-chan?" Haruna grumbled. "Did your cat hide your alarm clock? Oh wait, that was your excuse last Thursday."

"I couldn't decide what to wear today, Haruna-sensei." The bubbly blonde rushed to her seat near Usagi and grinned at her friends. "Hi minna!"

"That wasn't a very difficult decision, considering the requirement to wear your school fuku at all times during classes" her teacher pointed out.

"I know, but I have five of them!" Minako giggled. "I couldn't remember which one was for Mondays!"

"But... they're all the same" Haruna muttered.

As their sensei began taking attendance, Usagi whispered across the aisle, "How can you possibly be late so often, Minako-chan? At least Mako-chan and I have a good excuse. We don't own a car."

"I don't have a car either, Usagi-chan" the second blonde replied. She swooned, _"But I so, so wish I did!_ Then I could zoom here so fast I'd arrive every day an hour early! On second thought, maybe not!" she giggled.

"You _don't_ have... a..." Usagi's voice trailed off and she glared at the ceiling._ "What on earth is happening with everyone today? Am I going crazy?"_

"You want me to answer that?" Makoto chuckled.

"Hush, Mako-chan!"

. . . . .


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Minna, it should be a lot warmer outside by now. We can eat lunch together over by that tree where we'll have more privacy" Usagi suggested, leading her friends outside through the Juuban High School rear entrance. "That's the place where I first tried your cooking, Mako-chan."

"I remember that day" the brunette chuckled. "You seemed a little scared of me at first, Usagi-chan. At least you were until you tasted my food."

"Why wouldn't I be scared?" the odango-haired blonde said. "After watching you beat up those three big troublemaking guys I ran into that morning? And all by yourself too!"

"Those clowns weren't so tough" Makoto grinned. "All talk and no action. I've met their type plenty of times before."

After they sat together on a low brickwork wall surrounding the large tree and surrounding flowerbed, Ami asked, "Usagi-chan, what was that important thing you needed to talk to us about so urgently? If it's regarding your grades, I'd be happy to give you extra tutoring." Though her studious friend smiled as she spoke, Usagi could feel a sense of sadness hidden behind Ami's blue eyes. Or was it... loneliness?

'All the more reason to find out what's really going on around here' Usagi thought. "Arigatou, Ami-chan. But this isn't about schoolwork or my grades. Even though they could really use the extra help! It's about something much more personal."

"Ooh, gossip time!" Minako cackled evilly. "Tell me, Usagi-chan, is this about Rei? Because _I_ know a secret about her that I'll tell, but only in trade. You have to tell me a different secret about her first. And it has to be something really juicy!"

"And how are we supposed to know if _your_ secret is the same as ours if we don't tell each other what they are?" Makoto grumbled.

"Hmm... excellent point, Mako-chan!"

"Anyway, I don't approve of gossip, Minako-chan. It isn't very polite and it can even ruin friendships. So stop it."

"You're no fun!" Minako pouted.

"This isn't about Rei" Usagi told the other blonde. "At least... not yet." She hesitated before continuing, still unsure if the entire morning and her friends' supposed lost memories was nothing more than an elaborate joke being played upon her. An urgent call she placed during recess from one of the school's pay phones to Meiou Setsuna's apartment had yielded only a brief recorded message saying that the young woman was out of town for a time, and to please leave a message. 'Out of town!' Usagi had snorted after hanging up. 'With Pluto, that could mean she's anywhere. Maybe even not on the Earth!'

Now temporarily away from class and together with her friends, she asked them again over lunch if the whole thing was a trick. "Minna, before I make a gigantic, huge fool of myself, I'd really appreciate it if you told me if you're playing a joke on me. Mako-chan, you've always been loyal. You wouldn't tease me about this... would you?"

"Honestly Usagi-chan, I still have no idea what you were talking about earlier. Ryo being back here in Tokyo? Some guy named Yuji that I'm supposed to know? What gives?"

"So this isn't a joke?"

The brunette solemnly shook her head. "If it is, I'm not in on it."

Usagi wolfed down a sushi roll from the bento box her mother had prepared. "Fine, that's one person off my list. Next is Minako's turn-_ nani?" _A glint of light from inside a nearby bush suddenly caught her eye. _"Aha!_ What's that over there? It looks a lot like a camera lens, the same kind Papa uses!" Usagi grinned in triumph. "I _knew_ this had to be a set-up! Just like on those tv game shows!" Setting her lunch aside, she sprinted over to the bush and spread the branches apart with her hands, finding a familiar boy cringing and peering up at her through thick spectacles.

"Oh oh!"

_"Umino-chan!" _Usagi yelled._ "_What are you doing hiding in that bush with a camera? Are you in on this joke too?"

"Gomen! I can explain, Usagi-chan! I was just taking some candid shots of students for the school newspaper, and I thought this would be a... good... place to..."

"No you weren't!" Usagi hissed back. "You were hiding and taking ecchi pictures of girls again!_ You pervert!"_

"Honest! I wasn't!"

_"Umino!"_ the boy heard Kino Makoto growl at him. The brunette jerked her thumb toward the school. "Take that camera and get lost before I lose my temper. I'm giving you five seconds." She began to count, "Ichi... _ni..."_

"H... hai! I was just leaving, Makoto-chan!" He sprang from his hiding place and bolted for the safety of the building, dragging along several leaves and twigs that clung to his wrinkled uniform.

Usagi returned to her seat. "Minna, false alarm. That wasn't at all what I expected. So Minako-chan, are _you_ the one behind this? Maybe trying to have a little fun at my expense?"

"Of course not, silly! Why would I do that to you? We're _way_ too close!"

"I'm not playing any tricks on you either, Usagi-chan" Ami insisted. "But please do tell me why you keep mentioning Ryo's name."

"Then it's even worse than I thought" the blonde sighed. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Ok. Let me see now... first things first. I need to figure out what everyone _does_ know." Usagi pointed at the brooch pinned to the center of her blouse. "Minako-chan, what's this?"

"It's a beautiful and ancient piece of jewellery, Usagi-chan. And..." the girl glanced around to be sure she wasn't being overheard then whispered, "...it's the thing you use to henshin into Sailor Moon."

"Good! At least I know _that_ part hasn't changed." Greatly relieved, Usagi pressed on. "Minna, listen closely. Something really bad has happened. When I went to bed last night, everything seemed normal. But when I woke up this morning, it's all different."

"I still don't follow you" Makoto said. "What's different?"

"Your_ life_ is different, Mako-chan! And yours too, Ami-chan! And yours, Minako-chan! It's almost like all the things we experienced over the last year and a half together never even happened!"

Minako sipped her juice. "You mean like those aliens and their evil cardian thingys? That stuff definitely happened. I know because I was there."

"I wasn't talking about Ali and An. I meant more personal things. Stuff like..." Usagi pointed at her engagement ring. "When did Mamo-chan give me this?"

"At his apartment four months ago, Usagi-chan" Ami promptly answered. "We were all invited there by Mamoru the next day to celebrate the big event with a party."

"No no _no!_ That _wasn't_ when he proposed to me!" Usagi groaned. "Doesn't anyone remember? We were staying at the Kumadas' mansion on Okinawa!"

"Okinawa?" Minako exclaimed. "Ohh, lucky you! I always wanted to visit that part of Japan." Her eyes twinkled dreamily. "And lay on that warm beach sand with a tall handsome guy close by my side! And have him rub tanning lotion all over me! Wouldn't that be the most romantic thing ever?"

"You did exactly that, Minako-chan" Usagi announced. "You and everyone else flew down there with Mamo-chan and me and Rei and Yuuichirou. His parents paid for the trip because they're insanely rich."

The other blonde's brow furrowed._ "I_ was in Okinawa too? With a real live _guy?_ _No way!"_

Makoto lightly placed her palm across Usagi's forehead. "I can't feel any signs of fever... maybe it's something you ate that's affecting your mind, Usagi-chan." She chuckled, "Because there's _no chance in hell_ I'd ever fly anywhere in an airplane! That's just crazy!"

"Believe it or not, but it happened, Mako-chan!" Usagi retorted. "And you even flew again a little while later when we all went to Hawaii!"

The brunette looked worriedly at Ami. "Is your mother working today, Ami-chan? I think Usagi needs to see a good doctor. And the sooner the better!"

"Minna, don't be too hasty!" Minako giggled. "I _like_ this new imagination Usagi has! Usagi-chan, tell me more!"

"It's _not_ my imagination!" the other blonde flustered.

"Perhaps it's related to excessive stress from homework" the blue-haired girl sitting beside her mused. "The school nurse may be able to-"

_"I don't need to see any doctor!"_ Usagi fumed. _"Or a nurse either!_ What I'm telling everyone is the absolute truth! Cross my heart!"

"I don't know" Makoto said, her tone doubtful. "It all sounds totally unbelievable."

"I haven't even told everyone the best parts yet, Mako-chan. Look, all I know is that something weird must have happened overnight and now the world is a very different place, at least for us. And I want our old world back! I think _you_ will too, after you hear the rest of what I have to say."

"So... what else is different, Usagi-chan?" Ami asked, her curiosity growing. She raised her sandwich to her lips and took a tiny bite.

"Well Ami-chan, for starters" Usagi said, "you and Ryo are engaged to be married."

The blue-haired girl immediately choked on her food in mid-swallow and uttered in a strangled wheeze,_ "Can't... breathe..."_

Minako began slapping her furiously on the back. "Cough that stuff up, Ami-chan! Do it for Nurse Minako!"

"Go easy there, 'Nurse Minako'!" Makoto warned. "You're whacking Ami way too hard! Don't _bruise_ the poor girl!"

"Gomen!"

Ami managed to swallow the wayward morsel of food and smiled weakly. "I'm ok now, I think. Arigatou, Minako-chan."

The blonde beamed, "Another patient rescued! My record is still perfect!"

"Hai. Perfectly awful" Makoto grumbled. "Although I have to admit that the part about Ryo and Ami being engaged isn't_ too_ far fetched. From what I understand they still have a big crush on each other and they both love to study."

"That's the truth!" Usagi tittered. "They study together_ a whole lot! Hehehe!"_

"Um... why is that so funny?" Ami asked. "Studying together is a wonderful way to pass the time."

"I didn't mean studying with books, Ami-chan" Usagi grinned.

"You don't? Then what do you mean?"

Usagi waved Ami closer and whispered something in her friend's ear. The shy teen's face instantly turned bright crimson and she began to cough uncontrollably.

"Relapse!" Minako gasped, pounding on the girl's back again. _"I'll save you, Ami-chan!"_

. . . . .


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

After a few more firm slaps, Minako mercifully ceased thumping on Ami's back. "That should do it, Ami-chan. All better now?"

"I wasn't exactly choking that time" Ami grimaced. "But I'll be fine after I take a moment to catch my breath." Her shimmering blue eyes, now filled with hope, soon returned to rest on Usagi. "Are you quite sure you aren't making all this up, Usagi-chan? Perhaps it's us other girls who are having the joke played on them."

_"Very_ sure, Ami-chan" her friend reassured her. "You and Urawa Ryo are in a deeply loving, _very_ romantic relationship and you're planning on getting married real soon."

"Oh! Well then..." A bright smile appeared on the blue-haired girl's lips. "That's simply wonderful!"

"That's all well and good for Ami, but what about Mako-chan and Rei and me?" Minako pressed the other blonde. "Are we in close relationships with guys too?"

"Hai, you all are. Rei has her Yuuichirou, and you and Mako-chan are engaged to two brothers, Minako-chan. Your guy is a year older than Mako-chan's and his name is Ito Taro. Mako-chan, your fiancee's name-"

"Let me guess. His name is Yuji?" the brunette prompted.

"That's right. You met him one day over a year ago when we were all going for a walk together. It was down the street from your house a ways, in the countryside just past Nerima."

"Nerima? I have a house in the country too?" Makoto puzzled. She grinned, "Usagi-chan, I don't know what your mother put in that sushi you're eating, but let me try some. Sounds like powerful stuff!"

"There's nothing wrong with my lunch!" Usagi insisted. "I'm telling the truth, Mako-chan. Why won't you believe me?"

"Maybe because this story of yours gets stranger and more incredible with every word?" Makoto hinted. "So tell me, how did I become a homeowner? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly flush with spare cash."

"There was this really old relative of yours, an aunt or something, and after she kicked the bucket you inherited her house. _That's_ how." Usagi paused long enough to gobble down a bite of her dessert. "See, it makes perfect sense!"

"Sorry, but I'm still not convinced. My luck hasn't ever been good enough to-"

"Hush, Mako-chan!" Minako impatiently blurted. "That's enough talk about dead houses and silly relatives! I mean _silly_ houses and _dead_ relatives! I want to know more about my Taro! Important things! Like... is he good looking?"

"Hai" Usagi nodded. "He is, Minako-chan. But not as handsome as my Mamo-chan, of course." She haughtily stuck her nose in the air. "That would be _quite_ impossible."

"Sure, sure, whatever." The girl with the perpetually-present red bow in her long blonde hair leaned closer. "And is he tall? And in good physical condition? You know, strong or athletic, that kind of thing?"

"Hai, and hai again. But now we need to-"

"Wait, one more! Does he have a sexy voice?"

Usagi grinned, "You certainly thought so yesterday, Minako-chan."

"And his eyes?"

"Hai. He has eyes."

Minako sat back, clutching her hands over her heart. She swooned, _"Minna, I'm in love!"_

"And not only that" Usagi snickered, "you and Taro spend a _whole lot_ _of time_ studying too, just like Ami and Ryo. Every chance you get, as a matter of fact! And Mako-chan, you and Yuji are nearly as bad." She laughed, "Even worse, when you and him are out _hiking!"_

The tall brunette fixed a blank stare upon the smiling face beneath twin odango. "I don't get it."

"You will!" Usagi cackled. "Trust me."

The second blonde's smile quickly faded. "Nani? Burying our noses in dusty schoolbooks all day doesn't sound like my idea of fun, Usagi-chan. Especially if there's a man in my life." She frowned, "Is Taro a bookworm, with thick glasses like Umino's and a disgusting insect collection? There _has_ to be a catch."

Still smiling happily, Ami giggled, "That isn't what Usagi was implying when she mentioned _studying_, Minako-chan."

"It wasn't, Ami-chan? Then tell me what else the word could possibly mean."

Ami's cheeks reddened but she gestured her friend closer. "Um... I'll try." As she whispered in Minako's ear, the blonde girl's eyes widened further and further.

Ami soon pulled away, adding with a embarrassed blush, _"That's_ what she meant."

_"Ooohhhh!"_ Minako suddenly sprang to her feet, sending her lunch scattering across the walkway. _"That settles it!_ _We must fix this problem and find our guys as soon as possible!"_ She grinned maniacally at Makoto. "Do you know what Ami just told me, Mako-chan?"

"From her reaction a minute ago and yours just now, I'm pretty sure I can guess" the brunette laughed. "But I still have my doubts about this whole thing. Having a boy in my life who truly loves and cares about me, and inheriting a home in the country near where he lives? It all sounds just a little too... perfect."

"And that's the problem, Mako-chan" Usagi sighed. "It _was_ perfect yesterday, but not now. There must be something we can do to make things just like they were before this horrible day started. But what?"

"Maybe Rei can perform one of her Shinto fire readings and tell us what went wrong in our lives, Usagi-chan" Minako suggested. "She must have the same mixed-up changes in her life as we do. How about we zip straight over to her shrine after classes are done and Mako-chan gets out of detention?"

_"Excuse me?" _the brunette growled. "I haven't earned a detention yet today! But I came close with Umino, that sneaky little-"

"That's great, Mako-chan!" Minako cheered. "Try to stay on Haruna's good side for the rest of the afternoon. Rei won't mind if we arrive early since we were supposed to be studying at the shrine tonight anyway." She looked at Ami and giggled again. _"Studying! Hehehe!"_

"Good idea, Minako-chan" Usagi agreed. "We should take your car or Ami's to Hikawa to save even more time."

_"I own a car?"_ both girls simultaneously asked in shock.

"Oh, that's right!" Usagi groaned. "You probably don't, do you? And Mamo-chan's is too far away. That's_ another_ thing that's all messed up today._ Ohh!_ Why did I get out of bed this morning? Stupid, stupid,_ stupid_ me! I should have stayed home, ignored Mama's yelling and banging on my bedroom door and slept in instead!"

"Well, I suppose if everyone else is buying into this fantasy, I may as well go along for the ride too" Makoto decided with a wistful sigh. "Tell me more about this Yuji guy I'm supposed to know, Usagi-ch- Aagh! There goes the damned bell!"

"I'll give you all the details about him after school, Mako-chan" Usagi replied. "And a whole lot more too, while we walk over to Rei's shrine. We can't take a crowded bus there because other people might hear something they shouldn't."

"Mako-chan, you realize none of us will be able to concentrate on our lessons this afternoon. Not after hearing _this_ big news!" Minako laughed. "_I_ certainly won't be able to!"

"So? What else is new?" the brunette chuckled. She stood and slipped her empty plastic bowl and chopsticks into her lunch bag. "Ok, let's get the rest of the day's drudgery over with."

The girls began walking toward the building but Makoto paused and turned around when she noticed that Ami was not tagging along. She spied the girl still sitting and staring off into the distance with the same dreamy smile on her face.

"Ami-chan? Aren't you coming back to class with us?"

Her question snapped the daydreaming teen out of her unimaginably pleasant fantasy. "Oh! Gomen, Mako-chan! My mind was wandering." Ami hastily gathered up her lunch bag and scurried after her friends, blushing nearly as deeply as before. But her smile remained all through that warm autumn afternoon.

. . . . .


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Endless hours of mind-numbing tedium later, the four girls emerged from their last class of the day. They quickly joined the throng of other students streaming through the front gate in their quest for freedom. "I still want to hear all about Yuji, Usagi-chan" Makoto reminded her when they reached the crowded sidewalk. "But let's wait until this herd thins out a bit more."

"I'll tell you a few things now" the blonde promised. "But I'll keep the most personal stuff until we're at Rei's shrine."

"I can't wait to hear more too!" Minako exclaimed. "Minna, just imagine! I, Aino Minako, actually have a love life! With a real, live boyfriend! No, wait! Even better, a _fiancee!" _She squealed with delight, _"_Just the _thought_ of it all is making me giddy!"

"So the news hasn't really changed you much" the brunette walking beside her teased. "Unlike Ami over there. She's been even more quiet than usual since lunch. And happier than I've seen her in a long time."

"I was just thinking of the... possibilities, Mako-chan" the blue-haired girl replied. "If what Usagi told us so far is entirely accurate, our true lives must be nothing like how we're accustomed to living today. They'll be different in so many wonderful ways."

"And a _lot_ more fun too!" Minako added with a sly wink. She gleefully began skipping along, singing "_I'm_ getting _married! _Hehe!"

"To someone you haven't the slightest memory of" Makoto pointed out.

"Don't care! Still happy!"

"I just thought of another problem" Usagi grumbled. "What about Yuuichirou? If he finds out about this before we can fix the problem, it could make things really awkward between him and Rei and her grandfather. We'd better make sure we only tell Rei about it, at least for now."

"You know, I always assumed those two would hook up eventually" Makoto mused. "Yuuichirou absolutely worships Rei-chan."

"I know that, Mako-chan, and for the life of me I could _never_ understand why" Usagi muttered above a low rumble rising from her tummy. "And now I'm getting hungry too! Minna, let's buy some take-out on our way over."

The foursome's brisk pace soon left most of their other schoolmates far behind and Usagi began giving her friends more random snippets about the way she said things should be. "...and that's when Ryo proposed to you, Ami-chan. On bended knee in the middle of a dance floor of that fancy cruise ship we were sailing around Japan on."

"Ryo actually did that?" The blue-haired girl wiped away a tear of joy. _"Oh my goodness!"_

"It was _very_ romantic of him. And later on during the cruise, Yuji and Taro popped the question to Mako-chan and Minako." Usagi laughed, "That same night, you stuck a note on your cabin door to tell us about it, Minako-chan! And evil Rei peeled it off and moved it to Ami's door. So funny!"

Ami suddenly remembered, "A note, Usagi-chan? Did it by chance have a drawing of two hearts on it?"

Usagi nodded, "Now that you mention it, it did. And near the top it said 'we're engaged' or something like that.

Ami continued, "And along the bottom of the note Minako had written, 'If this ship is rocking, don't bother knocking'?"

Makoto stared at the shamelessly grinning blonde in disbelief. "You would actually stick those words on your cabin _door_, Minako-chan? In public, for everyone to see? Then again, why should I be surprised?"

"Good guess, Ami-chan!" Usagi congratulated her. "That brain of yours scares me sometimes."

"It wasn't a guess, Usagi-chan. I found that very note among the keepsakes in my room this morning while I was searching for something else. At the time, I had no idea where it had come from."

"Well now there you go, Mako-chan" Minako announced. "Proof positive that everything Usagi told us today is true. I know _I'm_ convinced!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Usagi exclaimed. "If you're living different lives, how did that note get into your room, Ami-chan? And if it's here, why am I the only one who remembers it? This doesn't make any sense."

"That's so creepy!" Minako gasped.

"This whole thing is getting way too complicated!" the other blonde groaned. "How are we supposed to fix-" A sudden shrill beep from her Senshi communicator brought the group to an abrupt halt.

"That has to be Rei" Makoto said while Usagi fumbled through her bag for the device. "Minna, there could be trouble at the shrine."

"I doubt it" Usagi grumbled. "It's been really quiet in Tokyo lately. More likely she just ran out of coffee or cigarettes or something and expects us to do the shopping for her on our way there. Well, too bad! We're much too busy to run any errands for Rei-chan today!"

"Gomen, Usagi-chan." Ami asked, "Did I overhear you implying that Rei smokes?"

"Occasionally she does" Usagi mumbled while brushing dust and food crumbs from the device. She added as an afterthought while she thumbed her communicator on, "And by the way, you do too, Ami-chan."

_"Me?"_ the petite blue-haired girl uttered with a gasp of astonishment. "I would _never!_"

"You do in my world."

"My oh my! Aren't we the sophisticated little lady!" Minako tittered, teasing her shy friend. "What comes next, Ami-chan? Cocktails and caviar after dinner?" She asked the brunette standing watch beside Usagi, "What exactly _is_ caviar, Mako-chan? I heard somewhere that it's crazy expensive."

"Fish eggs cured in salt."

Minako made a sour face. "Ugh! That sounds revolting!"

"It's supposed to be all the rage among rich people and movie stars, Minako-chan."

"It is? In that case, I like it!"

With the communicator in Usagi's grasp fully activated, a blurry image gradually formed on its tiny circular screen. The teens crowded around it, but all they could glimpse at first was a thick swirling purple mist. The picture faded in and out while static crackled from its speaker, and Usagi angrily gave the device a sharp whack with her free hand. "What's the matter with this thing? I can only see fog!"

"Turn up the volume on it, Usagi-chan" Makoto urged. "Maybe we can hear something."

"Hai."

Eventually a face appeared in the mist, not of Hino Rei as they were expecting but that of a tired-looking and deeply concerned Sailor Pluto.

_"Pluto-san!"_ Usagi blurted with immense relief. "Am I ever glad to see you! I didn't know you could call me on this! Listen, we've got big trouble here and really need your help!"

The Senshi of Time's reply was garbled and nearly unintelligible amid the multitude of hisses and pops that continued issuing from the communicator. "...major problem...malfunction...time gate..."

"Nani? Speak up!"

"...interference...alternate dimension..."

"This is hopeless!" Usagi fumed. "Sailor Pluto, can you please repeat what you just said?"

"...anime...overlapping your...attempting to undo damage..."

"Aagh! The stupid sound keeps going away!" Usagi yelled into her communicator, "Say again please!"

"...must wait for..."

And with those final words the transmission ended and the screen faded to black.

Makoto shot her friends a worried look. "Did I just hear Pluto mention _anime? _What the heck was _that_ all about? And what are we supposed to be waiting for?"

"She appeared to be extremely busy" Ami added. "And nearly exhausted."

"Forget what I said about stopping for food" Usagi worriedly told the group. "Let's get to the shrine."

. . . . .

It took another ten minutes of brisk walking before the weathered stone steps and first massive red torii gate of the Hikawa Jinja came into view. "Ok, we're nearly there!" Usagi announced. "Let me do the talking for now, and whatever you do, don't say _anything_ to Yuuichirou or Hino-sensei about our problem until we find out what happened. Ok?"

"You're the boss" Makoto nodded. "Gomen, I meant the Queen, Usagi-chan."

"I wish Rei bothered to remember that more often, Mako-chan" Usagi smiled. "Arigatou. That means a lot to me."

The teenage girls took the steps two at a time and spotted Yuuichirou sitting nearby when they reached the courtyard. He waved at them from his stool in the charms booth.

"Good. There aren't many visitors here at the moment" Usagi remarked. She and her friends hurried over to greet the young apprentice.

"Konnichiwa, young ladies!" Yuuichirou welcomed them with a warm smile. "Can I interest you in an omamori or an ofuda for good luck?"

Usagi stepped up to the window. "Hi, Yuuichirou-chan. Is Rei around? We need to talk to her about something very important."

"My beloved isn't home from school yet, Usagi-chan, but I'm expecting her any minute now. Is there fresh trouble afoot?"

"Uh... nothing too serious, I hope. Nani? Wait a minute!" She gave the boy a perplexed stare. "Did you just call Rei your _beloved?"_

"Hai, that she is. The light of my life, the woman of my dreams, my one and only true love." He grinned, "They all apply to my darling Rei."

"So... everything is _normal_ here?"

"Just another day in paradise, Usagi-chan" he chuckled. "How about you?"

"Ooh boy! This complicates _everything!"_

"I don't understand."

"You and Rei are still engaged? To be married?"

"We most certainly are" he replied happily, then paused at the sound of a car pulling into the parking lot behind the shrine. "Ah! She's back."

The girls exchanged glances as they followed Yuuichirou toward the rear lot, rounding the corner of the shrine's living quarters in time to see Rei slip out from behind the wheel of her Mercedes.

Minako's mouth promptly fell open and she eyed the shiny red convertible with a mixture of shock and unbridled jealousy. _"Minna! _Look at that fancy set of wheels Rei's driving! _I didn't even know she had her license!"_

The blonde's blue eyes sprung wide to match her gaping mouth as she heard the raven-haired girl coo to her Yuuichirou, "I missed you _so much_ today, lover boy", then watched the couple embrace and commence a lengthy and _extremely_ passionate kiss.

After several seconds Minako dropped her bookbag at her feet and began fanning herself with both hands. "Ohh! Suddenly I feel faint! And _hot!"_

"Steady, Minako-chan" Makoto said, scarcely believing what she herself was seeing. Beside the tall brunette, Ami blushed and politely turned away, only to discreetly peek back at the amorous couple and their ongoing kiss.

Usagi alone seemed to be taking everything in stride, as though Rei driving an expensive car and the intimate kiss the girls were witnessing was merely business as usual. She waited until the young lovers' moment of shared passion had ended, then hurried up to them.

"Hi, Usagi-chan" Rei greeted her. "Everyone's here early today. What's up?"

"Rei-chan, we have a _big_ problem!"

"_Another_ one? I might have known" the miko sighed. "What is it this time? Did you finally flunk out of school?"

"No. Something much worse."

"What could be worse than..." Rei instantly recognized Usagi's serious tone, then noticed the other girls staring at her with what seemed like awe. She retrieved her bookbag from the passenger seat of her car and nodded to the odango-haired girl. "Ok. We'll talk inside."

. . . . .


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The other four girls followed Rei into her home while Yuuichirou reluctantly returned to his duties at the front of the Hikawa Jinja. Setting her bookbag aside, the miko seated herself on the floor at one end of the wooden study table and waited for her friends to take their usual places along both sides. She suddenly had her left hand seized by Minako, the blonde pulling her fingers closer and gasping at the glittering diamond she wore.

"What a _beautiful_ ring!" her friend exclaimed. "It must have cost a _fortune!"_

Rei yanked her hand away. "My fiancee can afford the very best for his lady, Minako-chan. Anyway, you've seen it a million times before. And why aren't you wearing yours? Don't tell me you lost it!"

"She doesn't have an engagement ring, Rei-chan" Usagi said. "Neither does Ami or Mako-chan."

"Nani? Of course they do! Unless..." The girl frowned, "Is this the problem, Usagi-chan? Everyone's rings were stolen?"

"Not stolen. They never existed." Usagi quickly explained to the miko what had happened since she awoke that morning.

"So you're telling me that they have absolutely no memory of their last eighteen months or so?"

"But we _do_ have our memories, Rei-chan" Ami corrected her. "We can recall nearly every day of our lives between the time we were fighting against Beryl's youma and now. But our memories simply don't match those of yours or Usagi's."

"What about Ryo, Ami-chan? What does he have to say about this?"

"To be honest, I haven't seen much of him since he moved away" Ami sadly replied. "And that's probably my fault."

"Ryo's family never returned to live in Tokyo again, Rei-chan" Usagi added. "And Mako-chan didn't inherit her house, and she and Minako didn't meet the Ito boys. No engagements or relationships or _anything!"_

Rei's frown grew deeper. "You were right, Usagi-chan. This _is_ a problem. A huge one."

"And the weirdest thing is, you and I still have all _our_ real memories. I can't understand why _we_ do, and the other girls don't."

"Have you tried contacting Setsuna? She's the expert at this kind of thing."

"Sailor Pluto called me on my communicator when we were walking over here, but the connection was so bad, I couldn't understand much. She said something about a malfunction in the Time Gate. I think she's trying to fix it."

Rei sat quietly for a time, then said, "This is _very_ serious. If Pluto can't reverse whatever happened, the other girls could remain the way they are now... perhaps even permanently. And that may affect not only their past, but their futures too."

Minako began to sniffle. "Are you telling me there'll be no Taro in my life? Or a Yuji for Mako-chan or a Ryo for Ami?"

"That is a distinct possibility."

_"This just won't do!"_ the blonde blustered, banging the tabletop with her fist. "Ow! I hurt my hand! No matter,_ I want my Taro back!_ The boy I love and am going to marry, even if I can't remember anything about him! We can't just _sit_ here! Minna, let's_ do_ something!"

"The question still remains regarding how you and Usagi weren't affected by this event, but we three were, Rei-chan" Ami mused. "Usagi assumes that it occurred sometime overnight while everyone was fast asleep."

"Asleep..." Rei thought in silence for a moment. "Usagi-chan, did you sleep over at Mamoru's apartment last night?"

"How I wish!" the blonde sighed. "Mama made me promise to stay home and catch up on my stupid math homework, so Mamo-chan dropped me off there at around ten. I tried to finish Haruna's assignment, but it was way too hard! So I read manga instead until I got sleepy and then I went to bed."

"And when was that?"

"Around midnight."

"Then when you awoke this morning, the change to _our_ lives must have already occurred" Ami mused. "It _did_ happen while we slept."

"Hai. My alarm went off at seven, but I covered it with a pillow and fell asleep again. Then Mama made tons of noise and I got up. What a huge mistake_ that_ was!" she grumbled.

Rei gave the blonde a suspicious look. "But you didn't_ sleep_ straight through the night, did you Usagi-chan? You probably got out of bed a bunch of times to stuff your face with junk food."

"Only once!" Usagi answered indignantly. "I woke up hungry and went downstairs and ate a box of cookies. Then I went back to bed."

"A _whole box?"_ Makoto groaned.

"I was starving, Mako-chan!"

"Would you happen to remember what time this occurred?" Ami prodded the blonde.

"I don't know exactly, Ami-chan... probably between three and three-thirty, I guess. It was really late."

The blue-haired teen asked, "Rei-chan, were you also having a late-night snack at about that time?"

"Most certainly not! I can control_ my_ appetite, Ami-chan. Unlike that stomach on legs over there!"

Usagi yelled,_ "Rei-chan, this is no time to be mean to me!"_

"Although..." the miko added after an embarrassed pause, "I _was_ awake during that hour."

Ami's eyebrows raised at this news. "You were? What were you doing? Were you meditating?"

"Not exactly. My fiancee and I were... uh... being intimate together."

Minako giggled. "She was kissing Yuuichirou again! _Smoochy smoochy smoochy!"_

Rei blushed, "If you _must_ know, we were making love. Yuuichirou and I do share the same bed, Minako-chan."

"You _do_? Rei-chan, you _naughty_ girl!" Minako cackled.

"It isn't naughty in the least!" the raven-haired teen shot back. "Sex between a girl and a boy who love each other as deeply as we do is a most wonderful and pleasurable experience, Minako-chan! Anyway, _you're_ hardly one to talk! You and Taro go at it so often... that..." Her voice grew soft. "Oh. I suppose you don't, not now."

Ami suddenly snapped her fingers. "Minna, that must be it! Usagi and Rei weren't affected because they were both still awake!"

"I think you're right, Ami-chan" Rei agreed. "That's the only thing Usagi and I had in common last night."

"I wonder if Yuji would remember me if we chanced to meet again" Makoto pondered. "But according to what Usagi told us, he and his brother live far away in Nerima. It would maybe take hours to get there by bus or train and even longer still to find him."

_"Hours,_ Mako-chan? I think not. Aren't you forgetting something?" Rei reached for her purse, removed her car keys and dangled them between her slender fingers. "Minna, it's time we go for a little drive."

. . . . .

The girls hurried from the shrine toward the parked Mercedes. "I'm sitting in front!" Usagi insisted, lunging for the door handle.

"No you're not! You're sitting in the back where you usually do" Rei sternly told her. "You're a lot less annoying there."

_"Miserable!"_

Minako quickly elbowed her way past the other blonde and laid claim to the front passenger seat, leaping into it with glee. _"Mine!"_

Usagi scowled at her._ "Pushy!"_

She ignored the insult and bubbled, "Prepare yourself, my Taro! Because wherever and _whoever_ you are, your goddess and future bride Aino Minako is on her way!"

Makoto and Ami also boarded the convertible, with Usagi complaining loudly as she wedged herself into place between them. "Stupid lumpy middle seat! I _hate_ this spot! Ok, I'm in" she grumbled. "Let's get going!"

As Rei slid behind the wheel, Ami carefully fastened her safety belt and nervously asked the miko, "Um... I don't mean to be rude, Rei-chan, but... are you quite sure you can drive an automobile? You didn't even _own_ one yesterday. In_ my_ yesterday, I mean."

The raven-haired girl gunned the powerful engine to life. "Just watch, Ami-chan." Pulling onto the street, she stepped down hard on the accelerator and her Mercedes leapt forward with a muted roar, pressing her passengers deep into their soft leather seat cushions.

_"Wheee!"_ Minako squealed with delight. "This is a lot more fun than anything_ I_ can remember! Go faster, Rei-chan!"

"I will when we reach the highway. There's too much traffic here in town." Rei muttered to herself, 'Not that heavy traffic ever slowed_ you_ down, Minako-chan.' She peered through her mirror at the twin spherical odango sticking up behind. "Usagi-chan, exactly how much detail did you give the other girls about their past or their guys?"

"Not a whole lot. I didn't have much time during lunch, or the walk to Hikawa either. We were in a hurry."

"Well you do now. Why don't you prepare them, in case Yuji and Taro still retain all their true memories?"

"Hai, good idea."

_"Me! Me! Start with me, Usagi-chan!"_ Minako pleaded.

"It's Mako-chan's turn first, since going to Nerima was her idea" Usagi decided. She turned to the brunette on her right. "What would you like to know about your fiancee, Mako-chan?"

"Everything!" the taller girl chuckled.

"Everything? Ok!" Usagi giggled evilly. "Ito Yuji is a sweet, cute, caring guy who likes gardening and loves you with all of his heart."

"Sounds good so far" Makoto grinned.

The blonde beside her grinned back. "And you told me once in secret that he's_ fantastic_ in bed."

"Oh my!" Ami gasped. _Mako-chan!"_

Makoto's face flushed a vivid shade of scarlet. _"I said that?"_

"Hai! You really did" Usagi nodded vigorously. "Anyway, I'm sure you and him will have plenty of time to catch up on_ that_ subject later, when you're all alone together. Just like that afternoon in Hawaii when you and Ami and Minako took your guys to a quiet cove. Minako told me that Yuji and you went off hiking by yourselves and you couldn't resist making lov-"

"Usagi-chan, stop! That story sounds _way_ too personal!"

"Well, you did say _everything,_ Mako-chan."

"Can we talk about his interests instead?" the blushing brunette suggested. _"Please?"_

"You mean his hobbies and stuff? Sure, I can-"

_"Too boring!"_ Minako objected. "I want to hear all the fun sexy parts! Especially about me and Taro! _Hehe!"_

"Some things _never_ change" Rei muttered, pulling her car onto the westbound expressway ramp.

"Minna, I just thought of something rather important" Ami spoke up. "What if neither of those boys have the slightest idea who we are? They may think we're insane. Perhaps we should phone them at home instead."

"Ami-chan, don't be such a party pooper!" Minako scolded her. "You're _ruining_ my beautiful fantasy!"

"Gomen, Minako-chan" the blue-haired girl meekly replied.

"We'll have the answer to that question soon enough, Ami-chan" Rei promised. "We're finally out of the slow traffic and on the highway. Minna,_ here we go!"_ Her right foot sank to the floor.

"Oh _yes,_ Rei-chan! Yes! Yes!" Minako blurted, squirming in excitement as their car sped up. "Harder! Faster! Do it! _Make it scream!"_

Rei burst out laughing. "Minako-chan, are you _sure_ you don't remember anything about your nights with Taro? Because you certainly _sound_ like you do!"

. . . . .


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Less than forty minutes of spirited driving later, Hino Rei stopped her convertible at a red traffic signal in the heart of the small but rapidly-growing city of Nerima. "Does any of this look familiar to you, Minako-chan?" she prompted. "Anything at all?"

The girl sitting to her left peered curiously at the buildings and signs surrounding the red Mercedes. She slowly shook her head. "No... not really."

"How about you, Mako-chan?" Usagi pointed at a nearby grocery store. "See that? That's the place where you and Yuji always go to buy food when you spend the weekends here together."

"It is?" The brunette concentrated on the colorful building until the traffic light flickered green and Rei pulled away. "Gomen. Nothing familiar about it at all, Usagi-chan. And why should it be? I've never visited Nerima before, not until today."

The girl behind the wheel caught Usagi's eye in her mirror. "This isn't good. I was hoping that coming here would trigger something from their real past lives."

"Keep going, Rei-chan. We'll be passing Mako-chan's house in a few minutes. Maybe seeing it will help jog the old memories."

"I hope so." The sixteen-year-old miko smiled, "What was the funny name my Yuuichirou gave the old place again? 'Mako-chan's Senshi Hideaway' or something?"

"Hai, that's it. And Minako calls it her Palace of Love-Love!" Usagi laughed. "Very appropriate too! It's where you and Mako-chan were intimate with your guys the very first time, Minako-chan."

"And uncountable times more since then" Rei grinned at the giggling blonde beside her.

"Minna, I'm beginning to have even more doubts about this" Makoto murmured as they left Nerima. "It all feels so impossible. So... _foreign_."

"Cheer up, Mako-chan" Usagi urged. "When you finally see your old country home again, I'm _sure_ it'll bring back lots of great, happy memories. It's a really nice house too. You and Yuji planted pretty flowers all around the front and put a little vegetable garden out back. It has a nice big kitchen and even a piano!"

"Those flowers were the same ones baka Minako crushed with her car one night" Rei muttered. "Remember, Usagi-chan? That evening you took_ forever_ to drive here in Mamoru's car, and when you finally made it you stupidly locked the keys inside? Baka!"

"I'd rather not talk about_ that,_ if you don't mind" Usagi miffed. "It was just a teeny tiny little mistake. You're not perfect either, Rei-chan!"

"I may not be perfect, but at least I'm normal."

"Hai! Normal, mean and grumpy! That's what you are! Hmph!"

"Only because you always seem to find new and annoying ways to cause trouble!" the miko responded with a grumble. "For me and everyone else in Tokyo."

"Quiet, Rei-chan! Hush up and drive!" The blonde sulked quietly to herself until they were well out of town. "When we cross over that next little hill there, you'll be able to see your house ahead on the right, Mako-chan."

Upon cresting the grade Rei eased up on the accelerator, her indigo eyes widening in surprise. "Nani?"

As Usagi had predicted, a two-storey structure did indeed appear in the distance, but the miko knew at once that all was not as it should be. Driving closer, she spotted a tangle of tall weeds growing where a carefully tended flowerbed once stood, and the building's walls appeared desperately in need of a fresh coat of paint.

_"That's_ my house?" Makoto asked in growing disbelief. "It looks kind of run down."

"It shouldn't be" Rei answered, her voice grim. "It certainly wasn't like this yesterday."

Drawing nearer, Usagi gasped, "What's wrong with the windows?"

"They're all boarded up, Usagi-chan." Rei slowed her Mercedes, turning onto the rutted gravel driveway. "Minna, I think we should stop and investigate here before we go any further. This place is an absolute mess!"

Minako twisted in her seat and gave the brunette a frown of disapproval. "Tsk tsk! _Shame_ on you, Mako-chan! Letting your house get all neglected like this is the _last_ thing I would have expected from a neat freak like you!"

The raven-haired teen braked her car to a stop and she and the other girls climbed out, standing and staring at the dilapidated structure. "It can't be this way" Rei breathed. "It just _can't_." Feeling compelled to take a closer look, she briskly walked around the building to its rear with Usagi and Ami following.

"There appears to be a great deal of soot surrounding that upstairs window, Rei-chan" Ami observed. "Almost as though there was a fire at some point in time."

"Hai" the miko nodded quietly. "There was."

Usagi shivered despite the late-afternoon warmth and bright sunshine. "I don't like the look of this, Rei-chan. The house is a total wreck, there's no sign of any flowers or vegetable garden, and there's even a crack in that wall!"

"Damage from that earthquake no one bothered to repair, Usagi-chan" she replied. Returning to the front step, they found Makoto and Minako reading a small sign that had been taped to the wall beside the door.

"This notice says the house is condemned" Makoto told the other girls. "Are you _sure_ we're at the right place? It's nothing like Usagi's description. In fact, it's a complete dump."

"It wasn't like this last weekend when we were all here watching the eclipse, Mako-chan" Usagi answered defensively. "I don't understand. What could have happened to it?"

"I want to look inside" the brunette announced. She reached for the door, its paint peeling and faded, and tried its brass handle. Finding it locked, Makoto muttered "no problem" and firmly thumped her shoulder against the weatherbeaten wood. After two attempts the door reluctantly yielded to her pressure, creaking ominously as it swung open on rusting hinges.

"I'm not going in there!" Minako fretted. "No way! It could be filled with mice or icky bugs!"

"Then don't." Makoto shoved the door fully out of her way and took a few tentative steps into the dark, foreboding structure. Rei followed the taller girl down the hallway and into a musty living room, only to discover a sofa and other furniture shrouded beneath white sheets and an accompanying thick layer of dust and grime. Dense cobwebs crisscrossed the mouth of a cold fireplace as well as every other corner the girls could see, the faded walls surrounding them scarcely visible in the gloom. The old Kawai piano Rei had played from time to time still sat, abandoned and forgotten against one wall, exactly where she had expected it to be. Nearby, the same staircase Minako had slid down to meet her Taro last New Year's Eve curved upward to the second floor, its well-worn steps vanishing into unseen blackness beyond.

"This house hasn't been lived in for _ages_" Makoto murmured to herself. "Usagi was wrong after all."

"No. She wasn't wrong, Mako-chan. _This_ is wrong." Rei grasped the brunette's arm. "Let's get out of here."

The pair rejoined their friends in daylight and Makoto pulled the door shut with a frown of deep disappointment. "I thought it all sounded too good to be true. And it is."

"Rei-chan, do you think it's still such a good idea to keep going to Yuji and Taro's home?" Usagi nervously asked. "I'm feeling really scared! What if they..."

The miko thought for a moment before deciding, "We've come all this way, Usagi-chan. Let's finish our trip."

"Hai! Take me to my Taro, Rei-chan!" Minako insisted. "I want to meet my fiancee now! Immediately! No more wasting time here at this creepy horrible old place!" She clambered into the Mercedes and beckoned impatiently to the other girls. "Hurry up, minna! My future husband isn't going to wait for me forever!"

After the other teens joined her, Rei carefully backed her convertible out of the driveway. After taking a last unnerving glance at the decaying house, she and her friends slowly set off, continuing down the eerily silent and deserted road toward the Ito residence.

. . . . .


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"I'm so close to my mystery man I can _feel_ him!" a beaming Aino Minako enthused. She tapped her chest. "Right here, deep inside my love-filled heart! Come on, Rei-chan! _Speed up!"_ She impatiently unfastened her safety belt, grasping the top edge of the windshield and raising herself until she stood nearly upright in the moving car. The wind swept her hair back where it fluttered against Ami's face. _"I'm almost there, Taro my lov-"_

Rei's left hand reached over and grabbed the blonde's school fuku, tugging her firmly back into her seat. "Sit down, baka! And put your seat belt back on! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Gomen, Rei-chan!" Minako obiediently refastened the restraining strap but her enthusiasm and bubbly optimism remained intact. "I'm just seconds away from finally meeting the wonderful, tall, handsome guy who proposed to me!_ I'm so excited!_ Aren't you excited, Mako-chan?"

"Why should I be?" Makoto grumbled. "Look at that condemned hovel we just left. If you want my opinion, that Taro person isn't waiting for you, Minako-chan. No one is. It's all just Usagi's imagination, maybe a weird dream she had after eating all those cookies, or... something."

"Don't be silly! If it really was a dream, how do you explain this fancy car we're riding in? Or that engagement note Ami found in her room? _How?"_

"I... don't know" her friend admitted, falling silent once more. The brunette sat pondering the question until the Mercedes had swiftly carried her and her friends another two kilometres, gliding past scenic rolling hills and brown fallow fields towards Minako's happy rendezvous with her true love.

"Minna, there's the Ito house!" Usagi blurted, thrusting her arm toward it. "And this time it looks exactly like I expected it to! Well, almost!"

_"Almost?"_ Despite all the unexplainable changes she had noticed in Rei's life, the brunette sitting beside her still harboured deep doubts within. "Why almost?"

"It's identical to the way it should look, except for one thing, Mako-chan. The color of the window sills is different" Rei explained. "They were dark red before, but now they're grey."

"Maybe Taro painted them recently!" Minako bubbled. "Hai, that's it! He painted the window sill thingies because I bet he's so handy with manly stuff like that!" Spotting the outline of a human reclining in a wicker chair near the front door she gasped, "There's someone sitting on the front porch! _Could it be?"_ The excited blonde leaned further forward, straining mightily against her seat belt, and squinted through a dazzling glare the low, late-day sun cast across the windshield. "Nani? Is _that_ my Taro? I hope not! He looks really ancient!"

"That definitely isn't him, Minako-chan" Usagi reassured her as they drew nearer, before frowning "And not his father either." She glanced questioningly at Rei, wondering if the miko was thinking the same thing she was.

The girl at the wheel said nothing, instead pulling into the driveway and slipping her convertible into park as the grey-haired old man, whom the miko judged to be somewhere in his mid-seventies, arose from his chair on the porch and ambled over to her side of the car.

"Konnichiwa, girls" he greeted them in a friendly tone. "Are you lost?"

_"We're looking for boys!"_ Minako blurted, eliciting a groan from the girl in the driver's seat.

The man chuckled heartily. "I suppose you are, at your age!"

Usagi piped up, "Hajimemashite. We're here to meet the Ito family. Ito Taro and his younger brother Yuji, to be exact. Are they at home?"

"Ito? Can't help you there" the man replied. "There's no one by that name living at this address, young lady. Just me and my wife. We have a daughter, but she's a lot older than you and living in Kobe."

"I _knew_ it" Makoto muttered.

The bright smile promptly vanished from Minako's face. "But... there has to be some mistake! They _do_ live here! They _must!"_

"Afraid not, miss. This house has been my home for... oh, about twelve years or so now. Moved here from Tokyo after I retired back in '83."

"Taro_ really_ isn't here?" Minako's blue eyes began welling with tears and she turned on Usagi. "I believed you, Usagi-chan! I _trusted_ you! Where is he? _Where is the boy you promised me?_ And Mako-chan's boy too? _Tell me this instant!"_

"I... have no idea" the second blonde sadly replied. "Gomen, Minako-chan. Everything is completely messed up. Taro should be living here, and Yuji too, but..."

"Sorry to have bothered you, sir" Rei apologized to the gentleman for interrupting his peaceful afternoon. She shifted her car into reverse, but before leaving she asked him, "Um... if I may... there's an abandoned house a couple of kilometers east of here. Are you familiar with it?"

"Hai" he nodded. "The old Fujiwara place. Been empty for well over a year, ever since the elderly lady who lived there passed away." He paused to rub the back of his neck. "Terrible shame, too. A real tragedy. She was living alone and perished in a bathroom fire. An earthquake shorted out the wiring, or so I was told."

"Oh dear! That's horrific!" Ami exclaimed, while Rei felt a strong shudder course through her body. For the briefest of instants she again relived that fateful summer day in her mind's eye. The four walls closing in, the heat from the smouldering fire, and the taste of raw fear that came from staring certain death in the face. The miko gave her head a savage shake, mentally willing the frightening memory to return to its hiding place somewhere in the farthest recesses of her mind.

"I understand they're supposed to be tearing the place down soon" the old man added.

"Arigatou." Still shaken, Rei bid him farewell and reversed onto the street. She began driving back the way they had come, her mind reeling at the unexpected news.

The atmosphere surrounding the miko was heavy with disappointment and aching hearts. "No Taro..." Minako began to softly weep. "No future husband..."

"Usagi-chan!" Rei abruptly snapped. "You said Pluto called you on her communicator earlier. Have you tried calling her back?"

"I can't, Rei-chan! There's only enough buttons on it for you and the other younger Senshi, not for her! Nothing for Haruka or Michiru either!"

"That's right" Rei grudgingly admitted. "Mine's the same way. _Kuso!" _She concentrated on her driving, hearing only the purr of the engine and faint sobs from a deeply distraught and utterly heartbroken Aino Minako.

After a minute Makoto finally broke the uneasy silence. "Minna, how about this idea? We stop wasting our time around here, head straight back to Tokyo and forget this entire day ever happened. I for one have had more than enough dashed hopes in my life for now."

"Hai" the young miko sighed. "There isn't much else we can do here, Mako-chan. If anything. I'm very sorry."

"Rei-chan, would you mind putting the top up?" Minako asked, her voice quivering and cheeks traced by bitter tears. "I don't want anyone else to see me crying when we go back through Nerima." She turned away to stare blankly at a passing field. "It's almost like something inside of me just... died."

"Sure" her friend nodded understandingly. "I need to stop to do it though. It'll only take a minute."

As Rei brought her convertible to a halt at the side of the road, she noticed that they were within sight of what had been, until today at least, Makoto's well-kept and well-loved country home. "Usagi-chan, watch your hair when I raise the top this time. I don't want it getting caught again."

"I'll be careful" the blonde promised. "Ami-chan, let me tuck my braid between- _Ami-chan, are you ok? You look sick!"_

The blue-haired teen's eyes were unfocused and her twin orbs quickly squeezed themselves shut, Her head began to slump forward, and just when Usagi feared her friend had fainted, the girl reopened her eyes and sat up. "Whew! That was rather strange! For a moment there, I felt quite ill."

"Are you feeling better now, Ami-chan?" Do you need to see a doctor?" Rei's finger hesitated at the button controlling the folding top.

"I... I think I'm fine now, Rei-chan" Ami nodded. "Whatever it was, it seems to have passed as quickly as it came. I _will_ certainly remember to mention it to my mother when we... arrive..." The girl's sudden gasp startled her friends. "_Minna! I just saw someone walk out through the front door of the house! And then go back inside!"_

Five pairs of eyes stared at the building as one. "I didn't notice anyone, Ami-chan" Usagi cautiously spoke. "Are you _sure?"_

"Quite positive, Usagi-chan! He stood on the front step for just a moment, almost as though he was looking for something or someone, then reentered the building."

"Can you describe the person? What did he look like?"

"I _think_ so. It was definitely a boy, my own age or perhaps slightly older. He had brown hair and was wearing a dark green shirt. I'm sorry, I didn't get a clear view of his face. It all happened so quickly."

Usagi and Rei's eyes locked, both girls speaking at once.

_"Yuji!"_

_. . . . ._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Rei slammed the pedal down, setting off with a squeal of spinning tires to close the remaining distance between the girls and the old house as quickly as possible. "This day is becoming more insane and unbelievable with every passing second!"

Minako quickly dabbed her cheeks dry, allowing a trace of her usual bubbly optimism to return along with her smile. "This means there's still a chance, Mako-chan! A chance for us and Ami to find our true loves again!_"_

"If you say so. I didn't see anyone at the house just now." The brunette sighed, "But I guess it can't hurt to dream."

Less than thirty seconds later the bright red Mercedes skidded to an abrupt halt in the driveway and the teens leapt out. "Try the front door again, Mako-chan!" Usagi urged. "Yuji could be waiting for you on the other side!"

The brunette responded with a non-committal shrug. "Sure. Why not?"

"There's a flashlight in the glove box" Rei remembered. "I'll go get it." She returned to her car while the other girls ran up the steps and waited for Makoto to elbow the door open for the second time that day. On this occasion it swung inward easily, without any resistance at all.

Usagi took a single timid step into the dark dwelling, then spied a thick cobweb and its eight-legged creator dangling from a long silvery thread nearby. She quickly sprang back, her face pale. "Uh uh! _Forget it!" _She shivered, "Way too creepy in there!"

The blonde decided it would be much more prudent to call to the boy and have him come out instead. She took a deep breath then yelled, _ "__Yuji-chan! Is that you? It's Usagi! Your Mako-chan is here!"_

"Why did she make it sound like she's delivering a package?" Makoto snickered to Ami.

There was no response to Usagi's question from within the house, just continuing deathly silence.

"Nani? Mako-chan, is that fiancee of yours deaf or something?" She frowned and tried again. _"Yuji-chan, answer me! _If you're hiding somewhere, please _stop it!_ This is no time for fun and games! You know how nervous I always get in dark places!"

"Nervous? More like terrified." Rei hurried up to her friends and clicked her flashlight on. "Minna, let's search for whoever it was Ami spotted. Follow me."

Usagi took a quick step back. "You go right ahead, Rei-chan. I think I'll... uh... check the backyard where it's nice and bright and there aren't nearly so many spiders."

"Coward!"

"Am not! Ami-chan, come with me. And stay really _really_ close!"

"Usagi-chan, If you wouldn't mind I'd like to see what it's like inside the-"

"There's just floors and walls and stuff! You can see it all later!" Usagi promised the curious blue-haired girl.

"Don't forget to hold little Usagi's hand, Ami-chan" the miko teased. "She may have a panic attack if as much as a single tiny grasshopper jumps out of the weeds in front of her."

_"Ohh! You!"_ The blonde stormed off in an indignant huff with her friend obediently following behind.

"Minna, I think I'll stay outside too. Way too crowded in there for all three of us!" Minako announced.

"The house doesn't shrink when the lights are off, Minako-chan" Rei said.

"I know that, silly! Besides, somebody should be here guarding the door."

"Why? The door isn't going anywhere."

"You know! In case there's a mouse or... maybe even a huge nasty rat, Rei-chan!" She quivered, "Mean, awful vicious things they are too! But don't worry, _I'll_ protect you from it."

"How? By running away screaming, no doubt" the raven-haired girl teased. "When it comes to mice or bugs you're just as bad as Usagi, Minako-chan."

"Minna, let's get this over with so we can go home" Makoto muttered with growing impatience. She still remained doubtful despite Ami's repeated insistance that she had indeed spotted someone. With the beam from Rei's flashlight leading the way, she strode calmly into the hallway with the miko. "Rei-chan, before we go any further, point your light down at the floor for a second, please."

The girl did so and her brunette friend examined the tracks they had left in the dust from their earlier visit. "Just as I thought. There's only two sets of footprints here. Both from our shoes, Rei-chan. If someone else is in this house, they must be floating around in thin air."

"Like a ghost!" Minako gasped from the doorway. _"Minna, be careful!"_

"If there were spirits present, don't you think I would've sensed them by now?" Rei scoffed. "This _is_, or at least _was_ Mako-chan's home, not that evil haunted mansion you made us spend the night in last summer!"

"Even a spook wouldn't live in this filthy dump" Makoto grumbled. "Keep going, Rei-chan." The two girls continued into the living room, finding no signs of life and hearing nothing but their own breathing and the occasional creak of an aging wooden floorboard that sagged beneath their low-heeled school shoes. Rei impulsively stepped over to the piano, spread her fingers and struck a loud chord on its yellowing keys.

The reaction from the girl lurking on the other side of the front door was immediate and just as she expected. _"Aaahhh! Noise!" _

"That was me!" Rei turned and yelled. "Calm down, Minako-chan!"

"Oh! Gomen!" the girl giggled. "I knew that was you! Mice can't play the piano!"

"We may as well try the kitchen next, I suppose" Makoto mused, her words echoing back to her from drab, barren walls. "Which way is it, Rei-chan?"

"Which way to the kitchen? That's rather ironic. You really have absolutely no memory of this place, do you Mako-chan?" Rei continued on, swinging her flashlight's yellow beam from side to side and carefully probing every corner of the dining room and musty downstairs bathroom as they progressed ever deeper into the abandoned dwelling. "Nothing so far."

Reaching the kitchen, the teens discovered it a total shambles. Pots, pans, broken plates and cracked bowls littered much of the floor, while the refrigerator sat empty and dark opposite the stove, its door left wide open and sagging on its hinges. A row of barren cupboards stood vacant nearby. "Almost looks like Usagi got here before we did" the miko remarked with a smirk.

Makoto peered at the light floral pattern hanging around them. "At least the kitchen wallpaper is nice. It's the only good thing I've noticed here so far."

"You _should_ like it, Mako-chan. You picked out that pattern at a home improvement store in Nerima last July, and Yuji and you spent an entire weekend painting and redecorating."

"We did?"

"Hai" Rei grinned. "In between your numerous _study_ sessions, of course. By the way, did Usagi tell you the_ real_ meaning of that word?"

"She told Ami and Ami told Minako and I figured out the rest" Makoto chuckled. "Rei-chan, if the house looks nothing like you said it should, why is my wallpaper here?"

The miko frowned. "A _very_ good question, Mako-chan."

"Hmm... and here's another odd coincidence." Makoto reached across a countertop, retrieving a fragile but undamaged china cup that had caught her eye. She held it close to the flashlight for a better look. "I have this exact same rose design on a set of teacups in my apartment."

Rei's suspicions deepened. "That's because these _are_ yours, Mako-chan. The very same cups. You brought them here last summer after Usagi and Minako ended up breaking half the dishware you inherited along with the house. Clumsy bakas."

The other girl disagreed with a firm shake of her head. "Impossible, Rei-chan. I used one of them just today for my morning tea. In any case, I'm sure my cups back in Tokyo aren't the only set that look like this-"

_"Taro-chan? Is that you?"_

Both girls instantly froze when the young male voice reached their ears from somewhere on the second floor. _"Nani?"_ The cup slipped from the startled brunette's fingers, clattering across the linoleum as she stared at her miko friend in stunned shock.

_"Upstairs!" _Rei blurted._ "Now!"_

She and Makoto ran as fast as they dared across the cluttered kitchen and on toward the curved staircase in the living room. "I thought if anyone _was_ here, it would be vagrants!" Makoto gasped. "But how would they know _that_ name?"

"It was definitely your fiancee's voice, Mako-chan!" Rei replied, following her jiggling beam down the hall, around the corner and into the living room. "I'm _sure_ it was!"

_"So there really is a Yuji?"_

With a sudden burst of speed Makoto outran the flashlight's reach, thundering up the dark staircase only to discover the hallway in front of her deserted when Rei finally caught up.

"He has to be in one of the other rooms!" the miko insisted. "Perhaps he's hurt and can't move!"

_"Yuji!"_ the brunette bellowed. _"Ito Yuji!"_ But despite repeatedly calling his name and a frantic search of the four upstairs bedrooms, the fire-ravaged main bathroom and even a small linen closet, no trace of the boy could be found.

"Please tell me I wasn't imagining that" Makoto breathed in the near darkness.

"You weren't. I heard him too."

"Then where is he? We've searched everywhere." She growled, "The house isn't_ that_ big!"

"I honestly don't know." Running out of ideas, Rei thought to ask, "Mako-chan, when Pluto contacted Usagi earlier, did she offer any clues to the nature of the problem with her Time Gate?"

"The sound from Usagi's communicator was all broken up just like she said, Rei-chan. I do remember the words 'must wait' but I don't know what she meant."

"That's all?"

"There _was_ one other strange thing I remember. I heard her say something that sounded like... anime."

_"Anime?_ I wonder if..." Her indigo eyes abruptly widened in panic. "We've got to get out of here, Mako-chan! _And the sooner the better!"_

_"Nani?"_

"I'll tell you outside! _Go! Hurry!"_

At that moment, a strong gust of wind swept through the second floor hallway, filling their nostrils with a thick, nearly choking cloud of dust.

Makoto coughed, "Where's _that_ coming from? The windows are all sealed!"

Covering their faces, the girls staggered downstairs, sprinting toward the open front door when they glimpsed a fading ray of evening sunlight trickling in from beyond.

. . . . .

In an unseen dimension known only to the Guardian of Space and Time, a deeply fatigued Sailor Pluto diligently continued her work, struggling valiantly to make things right amid the swirling multicolored mists that surrounded her. Beside the Senshi stood her Gate, until the previous night successfully holding in check a maze of infinite pathways which lead to uncountable dimensions and increasingly bizarre alternate universes.

A sudden massive burst of energy from a single ordinary star, around which orbited a world where the Sailor Senshi existed only as ink and film and imagination, had allowed that particular fantasy to briefly overwhelm the ancient Gate's defenses. In the space of a single, fateful hour it trespassed uninvited into Pluto's domain, and instilled itself like a virus upon the timeline it was her sacred duty to protect.

Her staff again surged with power as she continued her battle, gradually pushing back the unwelcome intrusion and correcting a past history which several of the younger Senshi were now experiencing. A very different and altogether unpleasant reality where three young hearts existed to their very last days without ever finding true love. A reality which simply did not belong in her universe and, the Senshi of Pluto vowed, would be reversed no matter what the cost.

. . . . .


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Minako sprang away from the door as her friends burst outside. "What happened?" She gasped,_ "Were there mice?"_

_"Forget the stupid mice!" _Rei yelled, relieved to see Usagi and Ami returning from their stroll in the backyard. _"Minna, get in the car!"_

The puzzled teens clambered aboard and Rei hastily backed the convertible away from the old house. "We've got to get clear!" Reaching the road, she gunned her Mercedes east towards Nerima.

"Would somebody mind telling me what's going on?" Usagi muttered while she fastened her seatbelt. "Why the big rush all of a sudden, Rei-chan?"

"Rei-chan, stop the car _this instant!_ I _refuse_ to go anywhere without my Taro!" Minako insisted. "I won't leave my true love behind! Even having an invisible fiancee is better than being alone!"

"Taro isn't here, Minako-chan! At least not yet!" the miko shot back. "But he and Yuji soon may be if Pluto's work is successful. If my hunch is correct, we need to stay away from everything that's visibly wrong with this reality of yours. Including your house, Mako-chan."

After she had driven a full kilometer, Rei pulled to the side of the road and parked. "This should hopefully be far enough. At least we've lost sight of the house."

"Far enough for what?" Usagi puzzled.

"Sailor Pluto said she was trying to fix the problem with her Time Gate, didn't she?"

"Hai" the odangoed blonde nodded. "So?"

"I think I realize now what the problem is. Usagi-chan, you and I are the only ones here who still remember that afternoon in Mamoru's apartment when Setsuna showed us video of an anime from another dimension."

"That anime about us? With the catchy song and everything? Sure, I remember it. But what does that have to do with-"

"Shut up and listen! I'm convinced that somehow that story interfered with the lives of the other girls while they slept last night. The memories Ami and Minako and Mako-chan described to me are very similar to the clips we watched. No, not similar" she corrected herself. "Identical."

"Oh! I get it! So Setsuna is trying to get rid of that anime's influence in _our_ world, and make everything normal again!"

"Exactly, Usagi-chan. What Mako-chan and I witnessed inside the house just now is only the beginning" Rei continued. "And the change seems to be accelerating rapidly. Mako-chan, if we were still in your house when Pluto's changes fully take hold, who knows what would happen? You and the other two girls may end up trapped in this life forever, with no chance of getting your old lives back. Or maybe even something far worse."

"What old life would that be, Rei-chan?" Ami questioned the miko. "I'm well aware that Usagi and you seem to be living quite different lives than you were yesterday. But I'm not." She breathed a wistful sigh. "This is the only existence I've ever been aware of."

"It isn't really, Ami-chan. And trust me, the life you _don't_ remember living is the one I'm sure you'd be a lot happier in."

"Kissing your Ryo every chance you get, I bet!" Minako tittered, puckering her lips and making her shy friend's cheeks redden.

"Hai! And a whole lot more!" Usagi laughed. "Always studying! Night and day! That's you and Ryo, Ami-chan!"

Ami sank lower in her seat, the blush behind her smile growing deeper.

"So what you're telling us is, Pluto's repairs to her Time Gate are what's behind those coincidences we noticed?" Makoto asked.

"That's right, Mako-chan. It all fits together. Ami feeling unwell then spotting Yuji at the house, the wallpaper in your kitchen, that cup you found, when we heard Yuji's voice... all those things are signs that Sailor Pluto is gradually reversing the changes to your past. And at the rate it's increasing, it hopefully won't be very much longer until everything is just as it was."

Minako had been listening intently to the miko's theory and suddenly clapped her hands together in sheer joy. "My Taro is coming back to me? Rei-chan, I _so_ hope you're right!" Her blue eyes gazed upward toward the equally-bright blue sky in hopeful anticipation. _"Sailor Pluto, wherever you are, please don't fail us now!"_

"I hope I'm right too!" Rei laughed. "I kind of miss all those crazy antics you and Taro kept getting into. But at least for the moment, all we can do is sit tight."

"Nani? We have to stay out here in the middle of nowhere? Without any _food?" _Usagi grumbled, "For how long?"

"It could take minutes or maybe even hours, Usagi-chan. Please try to be patient."

_"Hours?"_

"And in the meantime we should watch the other girls closely. If their old memories return all at once, it may be a big shock to them."

"Ok! I can do that!"

Usagi fixed Makoto with an unblinking stare until the brunette eventually muttered, "Stop looking at me like that, Usagi-chan! I'll tell you _if and when_ I feel any different!"

"Gomen! But just think, Mako-chan. Soon you'll have your Yuji back!"

A smile spread across Makoto's lips. "Ito Yuji. I like that name."

"You love the boy it goes with too" Usagi grinned. "So very much. You and he were made for each other." She sighed happily, "Just like me and my Mamo-chan."

"Since we have time to kill, tell me more about him, Usagi-chan. And this time, leave out the intimate stuff!"

"And then tell me more about my Taro!" Minako exclaimed. "But I want to hear everything! _Especially_ the intimate stuff!"

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" Rei muttered. "Minako-chan, if someone overheard us talking about how you and him behave together, we could be arrested!"

"Really?" the blonde giggled. "Minna, I think I'm going to _love_ my new old life!"

The miko chuckled, "Ami however is a different matter. I don't mind giving _her_ all the intimate details of her love life."

"Hai!" Usagi cackled evilly. "Let's see just how much we can make her blush, Rei-chan."

Upon hearing this, the shy teen slunk even lower in her seat.

"Back off, you two" Makoto warned. "Don't act so cruel, and leave Ami alone. I guess we don't need to hear anything else about our past lives anyway. We'll remember it ourselves if what Rei believes actually does happen."

"There _is_ one thing I'd really like to know, Usagi-chan" Ami shyly asked the blonde beside her. "Does Ryo visit me often in my _real _life, since you said he'll be living here in Tokyo again?"

"_Visit_ you?" Usagi chuckled. "Ami-chan, he _lives_ with you! Except for every once in a while when he spends an evening with his parents, he always stays over at your house. Even most of his belongings and clothes are there."

"He _does?"_ she exclaimed, then hastily added, "Well, we _do_ have a guest bedroom, so I must assume he-"

"You _still_ aren't getting it, Ami-chan" Rei interrupted her. "Ryo doesn't use the guest bedroom. He sleeps with you. In _your_ bed." Rei spoke more slowly to emphasize the point. "And you 'study' together... _every... single... night."_

_"Oh my!" _

Minako looked at Ami and laughed, "Minna, that's the face of a _very_ happy girl!" She opened her door, stepped out of the Mercedes and began walking around it. "I need to stretch my legs while we wait."

"Why? My car isn't comfortable enough for you?"

"I bet mine's even nicer, Rei-chan!"

"Ha! That little orange pumpkin you always drive like a maniac? Be serious, Minako-chan."

"Well! At least _I _can..." She abruptly grabbed the door to steady herself. "Oh... I feel... _so dizzy_..."

The other girls looked on in shock as the blonde abruptly fainted, collapsing on the roadway beside Rei's convertible.

_"Rei-chan!"_ Usagi gasped in alarm. _"Minako just passed out!"_

"I can see that, baka!"

Usagi's head spun from side to side. "And Ami and Mako-chan are asleep now too! Ohh! This is bad!"

"Perhaps not. Maybe they have to be unconscious for their lives and memories to revert to normal." Rei swung open her door. "We can't leave Minako laying there in the road like that. Help me get her back in the car."

"Hai!" Usagi began crawling across a deeply dozing Makoto's lap. "Gomen, Mako-chan! I need to get past." She squirmed her way free and hurried to the miko's side. "Ok! How do we do this?"

"You take her left shoulder and I'll take her right, and we'll lift her back into her seat."

"Got it! Ohh, she's heavy!" With an overzealous tug Usagi tried raising the stricken girl, then staggered and thumped the top of Minako's head against the side of the vehicle. "Oops! Hehe! I slipped!"

"Watch what you're doing, you imbecile!" Rei fumed. "You're going to dent my car if you're not more careful!"

"Forget about your stupid car, Rei-chan! Think of poor Minako! Anyway, these things happen!"

"Do they? Do you make a hobby out of hitting unconscious people on the head, Usagi-chan? Look, I don't want your clumsiness causing injury to a dear friend, so try not to mess up again!"

"Fine!" The blonde fretted, "I hope she can forgive me."

"If Minako wakes up with a bad headache, I'll tell her why."

"Don't you _dare_ do that!"

Eventually the girls managed to prop Minako up in the passenger seat and Rei fastened the safety belt around her for good measure. "Done." She returned to her place at the wheel while Usagi squirmed around Makoto again and retook her spot in the center. The sky above them began to change color as the early-autumn twilight neared. "All we can do now is wait for the girls to regain consciousness" the raven-haired girl mused.

_"More_ waiting?" Usagi groaned. "This is getting really boring! What if we're stuck here all night? I could starve!"

"If that's what it takes, then so be it." Rei paused to light a cigarette before adding, "Tell me the instant you notice either of them waking up, Usagi-chan. And don't _you_ go dozing off in the meantime."

"Hai, I'll let you know" the blonde nodded. "Uh... Rei-chan? Can I ask you something?"

"What's on your mind? Apart from those two ridiculous odango of yours, I mean?"

"I was just wondering about that whole anime thing. Setsuna told me that she watched a lot more of it than she allowed us to see. She said some really bad things happened later on but wouldn't tell me what they were. Do you think the Sailor Senshi will have to suffer through even more trouble and horrible fighting?"

"Maybe. And maybe not. Setsuna said that our lives are much happier here in reality than they were in that story, Usagi-chan. The best we can hope for is that they remain that way." Rei brought her cigarette to her lips and took a contemplative drag. "Even with all her incredible powers" she mused, "Setsuna can't possibly know with exact certainty what lies ahead for us. Or even for her."

"I suppose not... but can't _you_ predict even a little of what's going to happen next? You know, with all that weird Shinto mumbo jumbo you do?"

"First of all, it _isn't_ mumbo jumbo! And second, I'm a miko, not a fortune teller! Usagi-chan, all we can do is live our lives one day at a time, do the very best we can, and let the future take care of itself. That's what Grandpa always says is the right thing to do. Don't go looking for trouble."

Hai" the blonde sighed. "I guess so." A sudden flash of light low in the western sky emanating from beyond the hill they were parked behind had Usagi blurting in panic, _"Nani? What was that?"_

"It has to be Sailor Pluto's doing" the miko calmly spoke. "When we visit Mako-chan's house again, I believe we'll find it just as we left it last weekend." Rei smiled, "The way it was _meant_ to be."

. . . . .

"Rei-chan! I think the girls are waking up!"

Twenty minutes had passed since that mysterious glow briefly appeared far behind the Mercedes, and Usagi worriedly watched Ami slowly open her eyes while Makoto and Minako also began to stir.

"Ami-chan! Speak to me!"

"Oh... hi, Usagi-chan."

"Ami-chan, do you remember where we are?" Rei pressed. "Or why we're out here?"

"Hai. It's really quite strange, Rei-chan. I still have a somewhat hazy recollection of what happened earlier today, and now I can recall everything I should from my past life as well."

"Time for a little test!" Usagi decided. "I know you love taking those! Ami-chan, who is Urawa Ryo?"

"He's my fiancee of course" the blue-haired girl immediately responded with a bright smile. She held out her left hand. "Minna, look! My engagement ring is back!"

"She passed, Rei-chan" Usagi grinned. "With another perfect score!"

. . . . .

A few minutes later, a red Mercedes eased into the driveway of a familiar old house and parked near an earthen bed overflowing with fragrant, colorful flowers. Two teenage boys stood smiling happily beside the front door and two overjoyed girls, a blonde and a brunette, left the car and rushed into the warmth of their waiting arms.

. . . . .

Epilogue:

Outside a quiet coffee shop deep in the heart of Tokyo's Juuban district, commuters and students bustled past on their way to work or school. Behind one of the establishment's curtained windows, a tired-looking young woman sat alone in silent contemplation.

Meiou Setsuna nodded in polite thanks to the waitress that brought her coffee, added a little extra sugar and slowly began stirring the mixture together with a thin wooden stick.

"Hey, Sets. Thought I'd find you here. How's life in the big city these days?"

She looked up to see Haruka grinning at her, with Michiru close by her side. The new arrivals pulled out chairs and joined the greenish-haired girl.

"Life? It's been... interesting, Haruka-san."

"Has it? No offense, but you seem kind of run down for such a fine Tuesday morning" Haruka chuckled. "Wild night?"

"You have _no_ idea." Setsuna placed her wet stir-stick on a napkin. "How was your weekend concert in London, Michiru-san? A resounding success, I trust?"

"The performance went very well. Very well indeed. Arigatou, Setsuna-san."

"Michi-chan met up with some old musician acquaintances of hers and we had a great time" Haruka added. "Didn't we, lover?"

"Did you just get back?" Setsuna asked before sipping her coffee.

"Our flight landed late last night" the violinist replied. "But the change in time zones played havoc with my sleep patterns, Setsuna-san. I was wide awake during the entire return trip. As was Haruka, who amused herself watching dreadful movies about car chases and bank robberies or some such."

"I see." Setsuna smiled, "Thinking of starting a new career, Haruka-san? A life of crime perhaps?"

"Not really" Haruka chuckled. "I'm not that kind of girl." She summoned the waitress, ordered coffees for herself and her partner, then leaned closer and whispered, "So what happened while we were away? Senshi trouble?"

"There _was_ an issue with several of the girls, but everything has been taken care of" the young woman across the table replied. She stifled a yawn. "Gomen nasai."

"Good!" Haruka sat back and grinned, "Sets old girl, you really should catch up on your sleep. You look really beat!"

"I was intending on doing exactly that" Setsuna replied. "Just as soon as I can find the time."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


End file.
